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NBB3 - chapter 2: Waking up
🕑 Added 2021-08-12 18:39:31 +0000 UTCSolus hovered above Laron's white skull, trying to make sense of what was going on. He could feel his body, but it was far away, and he seemed to sleep. His mind was awake, but he seemed locked in place. The cable close by seemed like a pathway back to his body, and it was trying to pull him towards it. The pull wasn't strong, though, and he easily ignored it.
A clean, smooth voice echoed around him. For a moment, he thought it was directed at him, then he realized someone was talking to Laron. Someone familiar!
~ You are a brave one, little skeleton! The others just look from afar! ~
Solus focused on the skeleton and the massive Wyrm in front of him.
It sounds like the sphere… but how is that possible?
Memories of bygone times played through his mind. He had been a wanderer still, moving through the city had awoken in. There he had stumbled across a building with a sphere, and everything had started from that moment. It had given him his status.
As soon as he thought of it, Solus called up the status. Two status screens hovered before him. Confused, he noticed that the left one was his.
Name: Os Solus
Age: 54
Sex: male
Race: Undead world elemental
Type: ERROR
Class: World shaper
Strength: 79/99
Constitution: 69/99
Dexterity: 29/60
Endurance: 90/99
Intelligence: 39/60
Wisdom: 53/60
Charisma: 19/60
Mana-field: 41912/99999
Physical density: 23000/99999
Skills: 3
Inscriptions: 4/9
Mana generation: ERROR
Only a few things had changed, but as he saw his age, he swallowed even though he had no real body.
I slept for over fifty years?
He barely believed it and worried about what might have happened to the others in the meantime. With the worry came confusion. Shouldn't he feel different? He had been changed so thoroughly by Viridy and had slumbered for so long. Why did he feel almost the same? An answer came to him almost as if he had already known but needed to ask the question to remember the answer.
It was because he wasn't really awake. Only a small portion of his mind was. The part of him that was still growing was asleep with his body and might be for a much longer time still.
"You are the Wyrm? The Wyrm you are?"
Laron's shout snapped Solus back to what was happening. He glimpsed at the second status screen, noticing it was Laron's. It surprised him, but it could wait, and he caused them to disappear. The sphere, if that was what it was, had been speaking to Laron. To his surprise, he could easily recall what had been said, even though he hadn't been paying attention. Nothing but some simple back and forth about not having to fear the other and calming down.
~ Yes. However, not a Wyrm like you know them. You can call me GD18. ~
Solus focused on the behemoth ahead of him. Although it might be due to Laron being smaller than he was used to, he had the distinct feeling the Wyrm had grown ever larger since the last time he had met. He also seemed locked in place, its plates covering it more like a shell than for protection.
Can you understand me? Solus asked, and as soon as the words left him, he felt the draw from the small cable become stronger. With it memories that seemed like vague dreams played through his head, swamping him and blocking out what was happening. He only just managed to keep himself away from the cable before all he saw was images, stills, accompanied by vague feelings and sensations.
Skull was the first, walking around. Some were in Skulltown, others in the hills, and he even saw Drys in a few. The images started fuzzy, but the further he looked, the more they turned unclear with fractures in them. Immediately after Skull was a dark hole with a shape lying, huddled on the ground. It took him a moment to recognize him, and then he shook, trying to focus on the images.
Sig!
His friend wasn't moving, and all of the images showed him in the same position, his body slowly whittling away, the bleeding gashes drying out as sand and dust fell atop him. Unlike with Skull, the images didn't turn any fuzzier, but they didn't clear up either. As he gazed at the last of the images, Solus knew Sig was in trouble. He seemed locked away below the ground, and from the sensations attached to the images, he knew Sig had been there for a very long time.
I need to get him out from there.
Deciding the first thing he needed to do was get Sig free, Solus released his hold on the stream of images. It immediately moved again, and he saw another familiar face. Sumil, running under an unfamiliar sky, fighting dozens of odd undead, Kaots, that he had never seen before. After the fourth image, another skeleton appeared. Further, at the end of the images, Sumils form changed, and the images became fuzzier, cracking up as those depicting Skull had done. Looking at his former minion, he saw she had turned from a skeleton into some fleshy undead. She was still partially covered in bone, though, which seemed to grow from beneath her skin. More details he couldn't make out.
The connection weakens as they grow stronger, Solus thought as he looked at the last image.
On it, Sumil was facing off with two massive Kaots the size of those he had fought outside of Skulltown. The skeleton was beside her, and it, too, had changed. The images were too blurry to make out well, but it seemed to have grown and gained sharp, upturned appendages on its bones.
Where are they? Did they pass through a rift? Solus wasn't sure, but it was the only thing that made sense if he looked at the odd sky above them.
What is Sumil up to? He tried to make out more details, but the last images were just too bad.
He released his hold, and when the next undead wasn't one of his friends, he let the stream flow. Images of different undead appeared and disappeared, some toiling in a cave below the ground, removing crystalline structures, others running around in the wasteland. Sometimes there were only two or three images, the last one showing an undead ended by Kaots, eaten by a wyrm, or even in a few cases ended by another undead. Other times he saw dozens of images, the final one showing the undead doing something.
It continued on and on until he finally ended with Laron. The last image was of the skeleton as it gazed at the Wyrm, not too long before Solus had snapped awake. As the image faded, Solus' awareness of his surroundings returned.
Laron was moving through the ruins, scrambling up a crumbled building while using only a single hand. A dull glow came from the other, and Solus saw the telltale signs of a mana-orb. Unlike before, he couldn't remember what had happened while he wasn't paying attention.
Although he was bound to Laron, he could look and turn around easily, and he looked back to where they had come from. The massive Wyrm was far in the distance, and Solus was surprised at how different it looked. The last time he had seen it, it hadn't been this dark, and the spikes were smaller. It also must have been lying there for a long time, with dust and small pieces of concrete having covered every flat body part.
Solus examined the Wyrm, wondering if the sphere that had so long ago given him his status window was truly inside. It could just be another one of a similar type, just like Borl, but somehow he doubted it. Not that it mattered. At one point, he would have been thrilled to find the sphere, he had even searched for months on end for the sphere, but that was long ago. Now he didn't need to repair his status window anymore, and he had all the information he needed. All he felt was mild curiosity, but that would have to wait.
The image of Sig, lying curled up in some hole, slowly withering away, appeared in front of him. Where are you, Sig? he thought, focusing his attention on the thin cable of light that disappeared into the ground. His body began floating towards it, and he took a last look at Laron. He might check in on the skeleton again in the future. Something about him seemed off, as had his status info. Then he touched the cable and was sucked away.
His being moved at insane speed through the ground, but he could still sense everything happening around him. Ahead of him, he felt his body draw near, and with it a bright green spot of light. When he shot into the chamber that he had made with Tirella, he stopped a few inches above his own body.
His body was roughly the same as when he had fallen into a slumber, with only the hairs on his scalp having grown to the length of an arm. His body still looked like granite-made flesh, but now he found he had the knowledge to realize this. A fuzzy dark green light shone around his body, and he floated closer to investigate it. As soon as he did, he recalled the dozens of types of undead mana that he had seen before falling asleep. He tried to see them again, and for a moment, they appeared, like a web of energy that connected everything. Then it disappeared again, and he was left oddly weary.
I guess that will have to wait for later, he thought as he turned his attention to Tirella. She was lying motionlessly on a bed of golden hair, her body relaxed and at peace. Just looking at her made Solus content, and he relaxed as he gazed at her still form. If he didn't have to find Sig he might have stayed looking at her for a long time. As it was, he sighed and turned to the cables that led away from his body.
They weren't really there, he knew, not physically anyway. They were mana pathways that connected him to undead above the ground, most notably Skull, Sig, and Sumil. It wasn't hard for him to decide what cables led to his old minions. The three thickest ones that seemed on the verge of cracking apart led to them. A thick, pale green one gave him a sense of Skull, and as soon as he watched it, he felt his body drift towards it. He forcefully stopped the movement and looked at the other two, a dark grey one that seemed dull as if something was wrong with it and a blue one that sparkled. Each was as thick as his leg, while the smaller ones were barely like his wrist. The smallest ones, Laron's included, were those multiple and only as thick as a finger.
Sig, what is wrong with you? Solus thought as he focused on the dull grey one. Immediately he moved towards it, and this time he let it happen. Upon touching it, he flashed away through the cable of energy. The movement lasted a bit longer than with Laron, and when he ejected from it, he was in the darkroom he remembered. Unlike the dream, however, the stone around him glowed green, as he was used to. It illuminated a gaunt, unmoving figure that lay in a small cave, barely large enough. A trickle of light streamed through two slits in the ceiling.
Sig, wake up! Solus shouted.
A massive pull came from the cable, and cracks appeared as he resisted. The longer he resisted, the more the light in the cable began to fluctuate, and the pull intensified.
Sig, Solus tried again, and this time the pull yanked him towards it without giving him any chance to resist. He slammed into the cable that audibly groaned, shot back down, and was flung out into the small room his body lay in.
What is going on?
His mind was dulled as if Skull or Uran had struck him, and the cable that led to Sig was making cracking and popping noises. Long fissure ran along its length, disappearing with it into the stone above.
Why had that happened? He tried to find the information in his mind, but unlike before, he didn't gain any knowledge from his status window or from what Viridi had given him.
Solus hovered in front of the cable, examining it. After a long time, it calmed down, the groaning stopped, and eventually, the cable returned to its previous unmoving state. The fissures and cracks remained, though. He had an inkling of why this was happening, but he would need to test it out to be sure. He gazed at the three thicker. If he was right, Sig's was off-limits, as any more interference might cause it to crumble and fade. Skull's cable drew him greatly, and he wanted nothing more than to see his dull friend, but he also knew that Skull was fine and in Skulltown by his last account. Sumil, however, might be in trouble.
He made up his mind and focused on the cracked cable that led him to Sumil. His mental projection floated towards it, and upon touching it, whooshed away. The trip started the same, as he shot up through the ground, but when he finally shot out from the ground, the cable disappeared into a rift. Solus had no chance to even think of stopping if he even knew how to, as he shot through the rift.
Momentary darkness surrounded the bright cable, and although it lasted for only a fraction, his senses detected movement all around. Massive entities moved all around the cable that looked like a bright beacon in a world of pure blackness. Then he shot out through another rift and appeared in a reddish desert world. The rift was floating above a deep pit of dark rust-red sand, and he shot out, pulled through the cable by an unseen force. Across the lighter-colored terrain, he flew through the cable and caught glimpses of sharp mountains, deep fissures, and Kaots roaming around. His movement was too fast to see too many details, but just as he flashed along the side of a mountain, he saw two Kaots the size of buildings fight, destroying a distant mountain in the process.
A few minutes later, he came to a jarring halt atop the dark blue lightly armored head of Sumil. She and the skeleton he had seen were hiding behind a boulder, their backs pressed against it. Solus couldn't see what was on the other side, but he heard something scurry about.
"I'll do it this time. Stay put," Sumil snapped.
Solus blinked at the sweet and soft voice. His blue-glowing lieutenant had always been a cold and calculating person, and her voice had been all but emotionless. Now she had changed into a wiry undead with a gentle voice. Though, as he saw her glare at the skeleton with two intensely blue eyes, he realized it was just her voice, not her demeanor.
He inspected her, trying to see what type of undead she was. He hadn't seen her type before. She wasn't a zombie, as her body had none of the telltale wounds and rips in the flesh. Instead, she reminded him somewhat of Sig. Her body was covered in thin white plates, but as he examined them, he realized they didn't seem meant as armor. They were thin and covered in scribbles.
"Sure, sure, you do it. It's not like I have anything better to do to get rid of this infernal boredom!"
The skeletons' familiar voice caused Solus to snap to attention. Galg, he thought, inspecting the second undead with renewed interest. The simple white skeleton had become longer, and thin sharply-edged thorns grew up from the outside of his arms and the back of his body. A ring of the same thorns grew around his skull, pointed outwards, those on the back longer and slanted away.
Solus's view changed as Sumil got up and stepped from behind the boulder.
A large Kaot rooted around what remained of a massive corpse. The Kaot was roughly humanoid but with arms far longer and thicker than they should be and two heads, one male and one female. The female head was looking down as it used rummaged through the skull while the male was actively scanning his surroundings. Both had thick, coarse hair that dropped across their necks and intertwined on their shared back.
Sumil's arms were raised, and without waiting, she shot a stream of energy balls towards the Kaot. The male head saw her immediately, and with surprising agility, the Kaot jumped sideways, dodging all but one of the balls. It smashed into the Kaot's chest and left a black-smeared smudge and a dent.
A multifaceted piercing howl came from the heads, and it ripped a boulder from the ground, hurling it at Sumil.
Solus watched with interest how Sumil snorted, and her thin, almost black lips curled up in a sneer. She didn't move but just stood her ground as the boulder whistled towards her. Two feet away, she took a single step aside, stretching out and grabbing the boulder with her hand. She turned around, forcing the boulder around in an arc. Although it dragged her across the ground a little, she didn't seem to have any trouble in whipping it back at the Kaot. As the boulder left her hand, a blue burst of energy detonated between her hand and the boulder, causing it to shoot forward as if it was kicked in the back.
All of the moves seemed slow to Solus, but he knew that was just because he was much faster. In reality, it all happened in a single, fluid movement, and the Kaot seemed unable to respond in time. It just managed to raise its arms, and the boulder slammed into them, knocking the undead onto its back. Sumil didn't wait but rushed forward now, round balls of energy howling through the air and pelting the Kaot, keeping it in place. Within moments the Kaot's arm snapped, cracked, and fell away. Sumil sent a stream of energy balls towards each head, and the Kaot flailed a few times before it stopped moving. As soon as it did, Sumil stopped firing, and peace returned to the small mountainside.
"And you say I'm out of control," Galg shouted from his position, leaning against a piece of rock twice as tall as he was. "I always fear you will blow up their mana-orbs together with their heads."
Sumil moved forward with apparent ease, ripping one of the heads apart to reveal a mass of grey matter with a shiny thumb-sized mana-stone inside.
"Don't mistake me for yourself," she said, moving to the other head and repeating the process. "Tell me again what bone brain detonated the last partial mana-core we found?"
Galg turned around and kicked at the boulder. "That was so long ago, I can't remember."
Solus grinned as he listened to their banter. It reminded him of when they were traveling together, which seemed like such a long time ago now. Although most of the time was spent sleeping, he did feel the passage of time somehow.
After enjoying the banter for a bit longer, he decided it was time to do what he came for. He focused on staying on one point, expecting the pull of the massively cracked energy cable. When he felt ready, he focused on Sumil.
"Sumil, can you hear me?"
As soon as he spoke, the now-familiar pull came from the cable. It felt like dozens of wyrms were dragging him towards it, and his resistance barely slowed it. At the same time, the crack lines deepened, and the energy cable pulsed rapidly and erratically.
Below him, Sumil cocked her head and looked around.
"Did you hear that?" she asked, just as Solus was forcefully dragged into the cable.
Moments later, he was ejected out of the cable, again hovering above his own body. The cable continued destabilizing for a while until it finally calmed down, but he wasn't paying attention to that. He was contemplating what to do.
So, I can talk with them, and they hear something… but if I do that with the thicker, cracked connections, I get pulled away, Solus thought as he inspected the three thick cables. That meant he couldn't get help from his strongest minions… but what off the weaker ones? Most of the cables were as thick as his wrist, and he randomly selected one. As he focused on it, he shot down another cable of energy, curious where he would end up.
